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Dear Pullman Alumni and Scholars,
I am always excited at this time of the year to see Chicago’s cold winter months subside as we head into our busy season of initiating the 2024-2025 scholarship application process. The Pullman Educational Foundation team is now hard at work preparing for the selection of a new class of Pullman Scholars, supporting current scholars through monthly individual check-ins and conducting Scholar Success Seminars, and preparing for another incredibly engaging Pullman Scholar Symposium and Alumni Reception in May (you are all invited! See details below).
We received 508 applications from high school seniors from across Cook County. This is 80 more applications than last year, and we are thrilled to be back to our average number of pre-pandemic submissions. We are encouraged by this result despite this being one of the most challenging academic years for students, parents, and colleges alike due to the significantly delayed rollout of the FAFSA application. FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a critical tool to assess students’ financial needs to help make college more affordable, and particularly crucial as tuition and housing expenses continue to rise. We have been working closely with our partners and peer institutions to minimize the impact of this long delay, and we remain adaptive with our process to best support the needs of aspiring and current Pullman Scholars.
Our 134-strong, all-alumni volunteer team is currently working through essay reviews and applicant interviews to help identify our new, first-year Pullman Scholar finalists. We are grateful for the tremendous support and dedication that our Pullman Alumni Scholar Selection Committee members provide as an essential component for ensuring fairness, equity, and integrity in the selection process.
As always, we encourage our broad and diverse Pullman Alumni community to remain connected by following us on social media, pledging financial support, volunteering your time and talent to the selection process, attending events, spreading the word about our good work, and keeping us up to date on your important life and career changes. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon!
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